Comunidad del pacífico en perspectiva - Volumen 2

LA 'COMUNIDAD DEL PAciFICO EN PERSPECTIVA I F. Oruga Vicuña be the most dynamic unifying force amongst the islanders in the Pacific Basin. Despite the diversity of the Pacific cultures, the peopIe are basically peace loving and they settle their major con– flicts by consensus in an open manner where aH participants are allowed to say what they want to say in the manner they see fit, independently. They live in societies which are open and are high– Iy democratic. Apart from the new comers to the Pacific Basin, the islands of the Pacific which cover about 6 million square miles of land over more than half of the Pacific Basin are inhabited by the people commonIy known as Micronesians, Melanesians and Polynesians numbering about 5 million oí which more than half are in Papua New Guinea (3.5 million) and 0.6 million are found in Fiji. The majority of the Pacific islands are, therefore, thinly popuIated, va– rying in size, resources, cultures and differ in their degree and the rate of change from their inherited cultural traditions to the mo– re modern forms of statehood striving for an acceptabIe place in the international community. In general Pacific island are classi– fied as a Third World region. They share a number of advant– ages and disadvantages and developmental problems common to other major Third World regions (Africa, Latín America and South East Asia). The region covers more than 1/3 of the world's sudace linking with all other continents, except Africa and Eu– rope. In other words, the Pacific region has a definite link with most of the world powers as well as very small island economies. Apart from the experierice of World War n, the region has had a smooth and quiet progress. However, the region's world econo– mic and political position is such that the rest of the world has become keenly interested in its affairs. The Pacific Community, therefore, must critically look at this external interest in the re– gion as against the genuine interests oí its people. The pressures on the island countries and territories are going to increase, but these pressures must be looked at in a positive way. It is import– ant also to remember that: When Europeans settled in the Pacific, they did not find a polítical vacuum on the shores and plaíns and in the mountains oí our islands. To meet the needs oí their time our ancestors had well-organized, self suffi· 208